Following a short delay, construction on the GK Unions Student Hub on the Medway campus is set to continue. The brand new £4.6 million construction project is set to open in the Autumn Term.

The universities of Greenwich and Kent are already in advanced negotiations with a potential new contractor after confirmation that the existing contractor, Cardy, had entered administration. It is expected that work will resume in the next few weeks.

With over 2,000 new students set to arrive in September, we are putting in place a contingency plan so welcome events are not affected by the delay. Please direct students to the GK Unions website for more information on freshers events.

Coopers Bar will remain open for one final month before having its farewell party and welcoming in the new student bar – The Deep End.

GK Unions
info@gkunions.co.uk

For all you newbies, here’s a helpful introduction to Kent and some of the fantastic services available to you.

• Your school – is a helpful point of contact for all your studying needs. Whether you need guidance on how to reference or employability advice, your school can help, and if they can’t, they will know who can. Find your school and academic adviser.

• Studying at Kent. There is a wide range of study support available across the University. You can not only go to your school for study advice, but you can also talk to one of our learning advisers from the Student Learning Advisory Service (SLAS).

• Employability support. In an increasingly competitive job market, we want to make sure you have the skills and experience to stand out. From work experience opportunities to support showcasing your skills, we offer a range of services to help you bag that dream job.

• Our Student Finance Team is here to help, whether your student loan is late or you just need help managing your money.

• Kent is a great place to live and study. Here is some useful information to help you while you’re living in Kent over the next few years.

• As a student you have access to a wide range of support and wellbeing services, including help with a disability, child care and a counselling service.

• Greenwich and Kent Students’ Unions Together is your students’ union and are there to represent the student voice. They also look after a range of student activities including social events and societies at Kent.

• As well as a fully-equipped library, most our library resources are online, so you can get the information you need 24-hours a day. Visit Drill Hall Library’s website.

• Both Canterbury and Medway have good transport links, so you don’t necessarily need a car to get around. You can also benefit from a range of discounts on local transport including a free shuttle service to Canterbury. Discover some of your options for getting around.

• When you join Kent you automatically become part of a college. Joining a college community gives you a support network and your Masters’ Office is somewhere you can go for help and advice.The College Master at Medway runs a calendar of social and sporting activities, in addition to those provided by GK Unions. Social activities include; cultural visits, club nights, quizzes and sports. All activities are free or subsidised and transport is free to Kent students and University of Greenwich students studying at Medway or living at Liberty Quays. Like Medway Activities on Facebook to find out more.

The date of the next Athena SWAN Awareness Day taking place in Canterbury is Wednesday 14 September 2016.

The theme for this year’s event is ‘what does Athena SWAN mean to us at Kent?’

The Athena SWAN charter is focused on not just improving the representation of women in science, technology, engineering, medicine and mathematics disciplines (STEMM), but recognising advancement of gender equality: representation, progression and success for all.

The morning of our September 2016 event will see an introduction by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow, who will be followed by plenary sessions on what Athena SWAN means to Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Sciences.

After the networking lunch, the afternoon will focus on practical, inspiring workshops and cover a range of topics, including content for your Athena SWAN submission, setting up a self-assessment team, how to overcome barriers to Athena SWAN and and more!

The day is designed to provide practical guidance and support for each School preparing submissions prior to 2020, whether they are just beginning their Athena SWAN activity or whether they are award holders looking to be awarded silver (or even gold!).

The event also seeks to provide context for Senior Leaders and embed the strategic value of Athena SWAN in all disciplines.

Athena SWAN is something that the University as a whole is committed to and by pursuing this agenda we create the best working environment for all staff.

To book your ticket, visit our eventbrite site. A full programme and further details are available on the Kent Athena SWAN webpage. Please email/print to share the poster with colleagues. The Medway event will take place in December 2016.

Sent in by n.blant@kent.ac.uk

On Thursday 11 August two HIVE students will be travelling to Virginia, USA, to compete in the Virginia Tech KnowledgeWorks Global Student Entrepreneurships Challenge.

Each year the University of Kent selects a student, or team of students, to compete at the Virginia Tech University in the USA along with students from 14 other universities from around the world. These students all have one thing in common: a great business idea.

The University of Kent represents the UK to compete in this prestigious competition with other countries including Ecuador, France and Australia. Students pitch their business ideas with the chance to win $25,000 and the title of ‘Global Entrepreneurship Champion’.

The University of Kent’s entry this year is eLog, the business idea of students Cesare Dunker and Rayyan Sorefan. eLog is an app that allows users to track their journey through photo-recognition, geo-tagging and time mapping. eLog seeks to provide an inter-county service, which directly pinpoints people’s location, and directly aids the processing of migrants by governments departments.

Read the full story on the HIVE webpages.

The National Express 270 service to London Gatwick Airport is unfortunately being cancelled this month.

The service launched in December 2015 but due to lack of numbers, National Express have come to the decision that it is not financially sustainable to keep the service running.

The service which called at Canterbury and Medway campuses will cease running from 17 July 2016.

If you still wish to travel by coach from the University campuses to London Gatwick airport you can take a National Express coach to London Victoria and change.

The 022 service calls at Keynes bus stop at the Canterbury campus and has a regular service to London Victoria.

The 022 and 007 services from Hempstead Valley shopping centre in Medway also go to London Victoria.

Sent in by transport@kent.ac.uk 

Ray Estaire, a jazz artist emerging from London’s underground music scene and Kent alumna, will warm up the crowds before Gabrielle and Will Young at Rochester Castle Concerts on Thursday 14 July.

Tickets at:

• Castle Concerts website
• 01634 338338
• Central or Brook Theatres in person
• Rochester Visitor Information Centre in person

Sent in by A.Mash@kent.ac.uk 

We would like to hear from staff from across the full range of the University’s schools and departments, regarding what being a member of the UK’s European university means to you and any benefits or opportunities that you have experienced.

Perhaps you have travelled abroad to share best practice or have benefitted from working in an internationally diverse environment; maybe you have learnt a new language; encountered alternative ideas or engaged with an international project or venture. Whatever your experience we would like to hear about it.

Colleagues are invited to share experiences and opportunities – whether formal or informal – of working at the UK’s European university. This need not be long, even a single sentence would be helpful.

We have already asked students what it means to them and this is what they had to say in the form of the following video.

Over the summer we will be making a similar video featuring our staff, and responses received will be used to inform how this takes shape. As such, please also indicate if you would like to take part.

Please email h.sullivan-guckian@kent.ac.uk to share your experience or to indicate your interest in participating in this project.

Sent in by h.sullivan-guckian@kent.ac.uk

The Grierson Award nominated film Public House which premiered in October 2015 at the BFI London Film Festival, and is directed by award-winning artist Sarah Turner, Reader in Fine Art and Director of Research in the School of Music and Fine Art, is being screened at Tate Britain on 11 July.

It is also previewing in the Changing London forum at the ICA on July 12.

Both events are followed by a Q&A conversation with the Director.

This genre-blending documentary of spoken word / text/ opera/ film was funded by a production award from Film London Artists’ Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) and a research award from the School of Music and Fine Art, University of Kent.

Additionally, Public House will be screening at 20.00 on Sunday 21 August 2016 in Hackney Wick as part of The Floating Cinema’s summer programme, Another Country. The film will be the closing feature film of the Hackney Wick weekender, which explores how, as the city gentrifies at a giddying rate, new spaces are appearing and old ones are fading away.

View Sarah’s talk about Public House.

To find out more about Public House see this related post.

Sent in by j.seaman@kent.ac.uk